Thunderstruck!
by The Guitar Person
Summary: Two metal loving punks enroll in Sakuragaoka and encounter the school's resident Light Music Club members. Will they be the final ingredients to push After School Teatime to the big stage?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the OCs and the plot, I guess :) My very first story, so please be kind and review at the end! I make quite a lot of allusions to real world bands and guitarists, with one notable _fictional_ band to be referred to later -- anyone who can guess gets a cookie :-)  


* * *

"Everyone, we have new students today!" said the homeroom teacher (and former death metal goddess) Yamanaka Sawako brightly, a grin on her face. Inwardly, she groaned as this meant yet more names to pretend to remember. Furthermore, these two looked...quite sketchy.

"First, this is..." she said, gesturing towards the first boy. He was of average height and had dark hair which covered his eyes. He grinned vacantly at the class, seemingly in his own little world.

"Er...please introduce yourself?" said Sawako, trying to keep her voice discreet.

"Oh. Er....my name is Kageyama Kaito," said the boy, his voice carrying a sort of lazy vapidity. "This place is....cool."

Some chuckles and a few surprised murmurs erupted from the class as the boy continued to stand silently.

Sawako grew a sweatdrop. "Okay then! Please take any seat you want."

Kaito gave a small nod and shuffled off to look for a seat. "Find a seat...." he murmured.

"Yo, you gonna introduce me already or what?!" interrupted an excited voice from the homeroom teacher's right. The class turned their attention towards the other new student – a tall, boisterous looking youth with a manic gleam in his eyes. His dark brown hair was styled into many spikes crowning his head, likely with the use of some industrial grade hairgel.

A small vein popped out of Sawako's forehead in irritation. Oh, if this brat only knew who he was dealing with!

But no, she wasn't that person anymore. She was sweet and proper Yamanaka Sawako-chan, patient and kind to all students, no matter how bratty or snotty they were.

"Everyone, this is..."she began, having calmed down a bit.

"Ban Jirobu's the name. Pleased to meet you all. I'm fifteen and single. I'm looking for someone smart and funny, with a great personality. I really don't care how she looks like – all I care about is the person she is inside, because that's what's really important. I like my tuna seared –"

"And you have detention later!" Sawako chirped sweetly, effectively cutting off the boy's obnoxious tirade. The end of her rope had been effectively reached in record time.

"What?! The hell did I do?" he said disbelievingly.

"First, you're not wearing your school jacket. Second, we don't allow such wild hairstyles in this school. Third, you are not to interrupt a teacher while she's speaking!"

"B-but..." he tried again.

"Are you going to argue with your _sensei_?" she growled menacingly.

"Scary..."Jirobu muttered, backing up a bit. "Fine."

Scowling, the spiky haired teen dug his hands into his pockets and began looking for where Kaito managed to find a seat. It was just his luck that he had managed to piss off a teacher so early in the semester – something he was sure Kaito would readily agree to. He and the dark-haired boy had been friends since grade school and had bonded over many detention periods. Kaito, or Kai for short, would often get in trouble for mishearing teacher's instructions and following them to the letter. If the teacher asked him to get a soda at the store, he would follow this to a tee, actually _getting_ the soda and neglecting to _pay_ for it. Despite his trouble with teachers, he was generally quiet and usually kept to himself, at least until he began hanging around Jirobu. That was when he started..._expressing_ himself more creatively.

"Yo, Kai, you got your books yet?" he asked his friend, who he found sitting by a window.

"Nope, I'm gonna look and see which ones would be worth getting." Kai responded, a tiny grin creeping into his features.

Jirobu let out a small chuckle and was about to say something when he caught sight of the girl Kai had chosen to sit beside.

She was friggin' _gorgeous_. Tall, but not overtly so. Perfect, milky complexion. Dark eyes he could get lost in. Long, raven hair that he could chew on all day like licorice, until he made himself sick.

"Excuse me miss, what's your name?" he asked in the smoothest voice he could manage. He flashed a grin at her and leaned over at her desk so he could look at her in the eyes.

"Will you please take a seat ALREADY?!" yelled the teacher, throwing a chalk missile that hit him squarely in the back of his head.

Jirobu steadfastly ignored this, however, and continued to give the raven haired beauty his most intense and smouldering gaze.

Oh, she was so _his_! Her lower lip was quivering with want and her eyes had glazed over with pure unbridled passion. She hugged herself, as if restraining herself from devouring him right there and then –

"_Kiyaaaaahhh_, get away from me!" she screamed, pushing her chair back with her feet, creating a deafening screeching noise that sent the other students groaning and howling.

"Eh?" Jirobu stared dumbfounded.

"You scared her," said Kai, his eyes unseen behind his mop of hair, but his mouth twisting into a smile.

"Eh?"

"With your gangster face."

Jirobu glared at his friend. "I don't have a gangster face!"

"Oh my god, Mio-chan, are you alright?" asked Sawako-sensei who had rushed over to her cowering student. She was still trembling and looked to be close to tears.

"I-I'm fine...Sawako-sensei...." she said quietly, still looking at Jirobu with a mixture of fear and suspicion. She was still hugging herself and looked ready to bolt from her seat if he so much as moved.

"O-oh, so you're name's Mio, eh? My name is Jirobu and I..."

"Have detention," muttered Kai from beside him.

"....have detention today," Jirobu repeated, his shoulders slumping as Sawako-sensei glared at him as if she were about to carve him up right there and then.

Surprisingly, she grinned wickedly. "And tomorrow."

"What?! You can't be serious!" he yelled at the smirking homeroom teacher. "I didn't do anything to her, you _old hag_!"

The class let out a collective gasp as dark storm clouds began looming over their usually perky (if a bit strange) homeroom teacher. Her face looked positively thunderous as she raised a slender finger in the air and brought it down to point at Jirobu.

"Detention for a MONTH!" she snarled, looking absolutely murderous.

Kai nodded once, his arms crossed. "Wow, that's a new record for you."

"Shut up, Kai."

* * *

"I hate this school already," snarled Jirobu, his hands in his pockets as he walked side by side with Kai down the school hallway. Not only did he have a whole month's detention to look forward to, he had been forced to take a seat at the front of the class, so Sawako-sensei could keep a closer watch on him. To top it all off, what he was sure was the prettiest girl in school was now scared stiff of him – all on his first day!

"It's your fault, you know. I told you, you should've forgotten about the hair spikes today," chided Kai calmly, shuffling through what looked to be several pamphlets and flyers.

"Whatcha got there?" Jirobu asked, peering over at the shorter boy's shoulder.

"Club flyers. They've been giving them out all day."

"Huh? How come I didn't get any?" asked Kai, turning to look at his surroundings. Sure enough, there were several students littering the hallway, some holding up signs advertising their clubs, others content to hand out flyers by the bundle. As he walked past them however, they began casting suspicious glances at him and murmuring quietly.

"Because they're scared of your gangster face, Gangster Face," said Kai matter of factly.

Jirobu's dark eyebrows knitted together. "Screw you. You going to the reception thing later?"

"Maybe. They have the light music club performing later; might be fun to check it out."

Jirobu snorted. "Why the hell would I want to watch some pansies play their pansy-ass music? Furthermore, why the hell would _you_ want to watch some pansies play their pansy-ass music?"

Kai's mouth fell into a grim line. "I'm just broadening my horizons. You _know_ the kind of music I like."

Jirobu let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I do. Speaking of which, you got the new _Trivium_ album I sent ya?"

"That's illegal by the way," Kai sang.

"Screw you, you listened to it anyway right?" challenged Jirobu.

"Yeah, it was great!" replied Kai brightly. "I love that they named it 'Shogun' – it really speaks to the Japanese, you know? They already have a big fanbase here, because Matt Heafy's half Japanese!"

The spiky haired boy couldn't help but grin at his friend's reaction; he always got excited when it came to talking about his favourite bands. The dark haired didn't look like the type, but Jirobu knew for a fact that the guy loved _metal _music of all kinds. It was another thing they bonded on – Jirobu himself preferred thrash and death metal; a good way, he found out, to let his aggressions out.

"So, again, why are you going to this light music club thing anyway?" pressed Jirobu, crossing his arms as they continued to walk down the hallway.

"Like I said, I just wanna broaden my horizons. Plus, everybody here says they're pretty good."

"Heh, I'll believe it when I see it," said Jirobu, crossing his arms.

"It's an all-girl band, you know," said Kai, knowing exactly what to say to get his friend's attention.

It did the trick, as Jirobu's eyes lightened up considerably and he began walking with a bounce in his step.

"An all-girl band? I'm there!"

Kai smiled to himself as they continued walking. It was too easy sometimes.

* * *

A/N: So yeah, quite a bit of screen-time for the two OCs :-) Rest assured, the rest of the girls will appear in the next chapter! I'm not exactly sure about the nature of Sakuragaoka, but for the purposes of this fic, it _is _co-ed school.

**Trivium** is a thrash/metalcore band based in California, currently signed on to Roadrunner records. They've released four albums so far, the latest one called _Shogun_, based on lead vocalist/guitarist Matt Heafy getting in touch with his Japanese roots (he actually is half-Japanese).


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yep, ungodly late, I know. So I just made it longer**

* * *

"Holy fuckin' shit dude, that was awesome!" yelled a voice in the school corridor of Sakuragaoka High School, just a few hours after the reception ceremony that took place in the gym.

Elsewhere, a bespectacled figure's ears pricked. Quick as a flash, she sprinted from the faculty lounge to trace the source of the crude language.

"I mean, can you believe that their guitarist supposedly had no experience whatsoever before joining the band?" Jirobu continued, cheeks red from the aftershock of watching an all girl band perform.

"Well...yeah I can. She was okay, but..." replied his shorter friend hesitantly, fearing an outburst.

"Oh shut up! You asshole! Always nay-saying! You need to open your mind and broaden your horizons!" yelled the boisterous young man heatedly at his friend.

Kai sighed heavily. "That's what _I _was saying before. Weren't you the one talking about them being pansies, with their pansy ass music?"

"Well, well, well, what's with all the noise here, huh?" growled a menacing voice from behind the two boys, causing both to shiver involuntarily. They both warily looked behind them to see two glowing eyes, framed by round lenses. A feral grin was fixed on her face and a prominent vein was again popping on her forehead.

"Jirobu-kun and Kai-kun was it? Why so noisy in the middle of the day?" she said, the grin widening. "You should be going home, right Kai-kun?"

"Ah, hahaha, y-yes I should but I figured I would wait for Jiro to finish his detention, Sawako-sensei!" replied Kai weakly.

"Oh no, silly boy, you needn't trouble yourself!" Sawako chirped merrily.

She turned her attention to the taller, spiky haired boy, her affect completely changing from its sugary sweet demeanor just a little while ago.

"You, come with me."

"Fine, fine...." Jirobu muttered, still wondering why the woman scared the hell out of him.

"One 'fine' is enough, thank you!" she snarled, causing the two lads to flinch.

"Er, Jiro, I'll just go home, alright?" stammered Kai, still reeling from the homeroom teacher's bipolar outburst. "Call you later man!"

"Yeah, sure..." said Jirobu with a salute as he followed Sawako upstairs. He was really starting to hate this school, what with its uppity students and faculty. Good thing Kai was going here too, or else he would've already started going back to his old ways...

"Well, we're here!" said the bespectacled woman in front of him. "You and I can stay here, for the time being. No point in missing tea time, is there?"

Jirobu's eyes narrowed in confusion "Eh?"

He looked up to see a sign clearly marking the room they were standing in front of as the "Music Room". There were slightly muffled voices inside, all of them female as far as he could tell.

"_Damn, nobody but girls in the detention room?_" he thought joyfully. "_Must be my lucky day!_"

Sawako gleefully slid the doors open and waved at the occupants inside.

"_Ohayooo!_ Did I miss the cake?" she chirped brightly at the room.

"Nope, in fact we just finished setting up!" replied a sweet voice from the inside, as Jirobu followed the homeroom teacher inside the room. The girl, a long-haired blonde with rather strangely shaped eyebrows smiled pleasantly as she handed the smiling teacher a plate of what looked to be marzipan.

He continued scanning the room, his eyes going over to the two other occupants. One was a honey-brown haired girl, taking happy bites out of a chocolate chip cookie and drinking from a cup. She wore yellow hair clips and had a slightly vapid but pleasant expression on her face.

The other girl also had brown hair, but of a lighter color and kept in check by a thin yellow hairband she wore to keep the tresses from her forehead. She was using two small teaspoons to drum an up-tempo beat, with the porcelain tableware being used as the drums.

"Hey Sawa-chan, who's the new guy?", asked Drummer-Girl, as Jirobu referred to her in his mind. Did she seriously not know who he was? He remembered her being in the same class as Mio-sama.

"Hmm? Oh, that's right, you were late so you wouldn't know," replied Sawako through a mouthful of cake. "He's...I dunno, Janken or Jiraiya or something...."

"My name's Jirobu!" yelled the only male in the room, feeling his temper spike to dangerous levels. "How could you call yourself a teacher when you can't even remember your students' names?!"

"Hey, don't worry about it!" came the cheery reply from Drummer Girl. "Sawa-chan's always had trouble remembering her student's names."

The brown-haired girl quickly set down her impromptu drumsticks and walked over to Jirobu.

She jammed a thumb toward her chest "Tainaka Ritsu."

Pointing over at the blonde and hair-clip wearing girl, she mimicked holding a microphone with one hand. "And we have Kotobuki Tsumugi and Hirasawi Yui, our lovely and talented keyboardist and guitarist, respectively."

Jirobu felt his mind freeze. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a complete band set-up – two guitar bags, a drum set and an electric keyboard.

"You're the all-girl band from this morning!" he yelled excitedly. "Oh my god, you were so awesome!"

"Heh, thanks," replied Ritsu, thumbing her nose. "We do try our best. What did you say your name was?"

"Ban Jirobu, but Jiro's fine," he replied, looking from one girl to the next. " Say, weren't there four of you on stage?"

Of course, Jirobu _knew_ that there were four of them on stage. _She_ was missing – the bass player that he couldn't take his eyes off of during the performance. It was strange; when they had "met" in class, she seemed so frail and cowardly, but when she performed with the band that morning, it was like a whole different person had taken the stage.

It was breathtaking, to say the least.

"Hey guys, sorry for being late, I got held up in Engli—"

The new figure froze as she took one look at Jirobu, still smiling maniacally as he was lost in his own thoughts, standing next to Ritsu, who seemed unperturbed by the psychotic looking boy in front of her.

"Ritsu, what...is...he..." she choked out.

"Hmm? Oh, hi Mio!" the drummer said, ignoring the frantic signs and waving from the dark-haired girl. "Have you met Jirobu? He's new here and he's a fan of the band!"

Jirobu scratched the back of his neck sheepishly as he looked at Mio who stared back warily.

"Er, hi? I'm sorry about..."

Quick as a flash, Jirobu's fair skinned goddess disappeared from his sight, faster than he could even finish his apology. Eyes darting around, he found her behind Ritsu, using the short-haired girl as a human shield.

"Mio? Damn, how'd you get here so fast?" asked the female drummer, looking over her shoulder at her friend. "We've got ourselves a fan here and you're not being very friendly!"

Ritsu smiled at Jirobu again. "Sorry, she's a little bit shy."

"It's n-not because of that!" came the shaky reply from behind Ritsu again. "He...um..."

"He tried hitting on Mio-chan this morning at class," piped up Sawako, finishing off her cake. "She got scared because he looks like a junior gangster."

"I thought I told you that I wasn't a gangster!" muttered the young man, blushing as the homeroom teacher recounted the details of the morning's incident.

Sawako giggled. "He needs a lighter touch when courting our Mio-chan, ne?"

"Mmm, that he does," agreed Tsumugi, slicing Yui another piece of marzipan.

The spiky-haired boy dug his hands into his pockets. "Tch. Okay, I'm sorry alright?"

Ritsu just gave a shrug "Well, we don't really have anything to do with the incident here, sooo..."

Side-stepping quickly, Mio's human shield was gone in a flash and she was left facing the boisterous lad. Gulping mightily, she bravely stepped closer to him and met his eyes.

"You were very rude."

"Yeah."

"And loud."

"Yeah."

"A-and...you shouldn't do that to somebody you just met, okay? I mean, I didn't even know your name, and you didn't know mine and you were hitting on me in the middle of the class!"

"_Yes. _I_ know."_

"And....and...."

"He said he was sorry Mio-chan."

Both parties turned to the unexpected source of the input, from Yui who had just finished snacking it seemed.

"Jiro-san already said sorry.", Yui continued, making Jiro utterly grateful for the unexpected ally."And he also _looks_ sorry....like....like when a puppy goes to the bathroom on the floor.... "

Jirobu's eyebrows began to knit together again. "Er...I think she gets it..."

Yui, however was quite engrossed in her description and ignored him completely. "And...and...it's looking really sad and it's eyes are really big! And it's making sad little puppy noises and sitting up, like it's promising that it'll never, ever, _ever_ wee on the carpet or floor again!"

"Thank _you_, I think that's quite enough." Jirobu hissed, amidst cackles from Sawako and Ritsu. He didn't even dare look at Mio now; she probably thought he was a joke and didn't see him in any way as a potential romantic interest or even a friend.

"Fine."

The young man fixed the girl in front of him a dumbfounded look. "Eh?"

"I guess it's okay. What's done is done and we'll just have to forget about it."

He found himself smiling awkwardly."T-thanks, Mio-san."

The female bassist grinned in a way that made Jirobu very uncomfortable. "You're welcome. Now, who's a _good_ boy?"

"Ooooh, _BURN_!" yelled Ritsu, seemingly very entertained at what had just transpired. "Yui....that was brilliant. And Mio! Just –" she made a gesture of kissing the tips of her fingers, similar to some TV chefs.

Yui smiled happily, having resumed her snacking.

Seeing everybody around him smiling, Jirobu's heart began to lift a little. Mio-sama had forgiven him! Sure, it had taken a humiliating metaphor and a solid figurative kick to his happy sack, but now his chances with at least being her friend wasn't at _zero_.

"Would you like some cake, Jiro-kun?" asked a pleasant voice, awakening Jiro from his thoughts. The blonde one, Tsumugi, was offering him a plate of pastry.

"Er..."

"Nope, Mugi-chan, Buster here doesn't get any cake. He's in detention."

The young man glared at Sawako who was sitting on a stool and had her arms crossed under her chest.

"Oh," said Mugi, drawing back the offering. "Maybe later then."

"Why'd you bring me here anyway?" Jiro snapped at Sawako, who was humming merrily as she sipped from a teacup.

"Like I said, no point in missing teatime."

"You could stand to _miss_ a few tea-times..." he muttered.

Her ears pricking in anger, Sawako set down the cup calmly on her saucer and smiled menacingly at Jirobu.

"You wanna try detention for a whole year? Do you?"

Gulping in fright, Jirobu could only shake his head frantically. Damn, there was something frightening about this teacher that he just couldn't put his finger on.

Scanning the room, he noticed the two guitar bags on one of the couches.

"So...Yui-san's the guitar player, right?" he began, trying to start a conversation. The girls had settled into what seemed to be familiar routine to them and he was feeling a little bit left out.

"Mm!" came the reply from Yui, still stuffing her face with sweets. "I practiced real hard last night so we could have a super-great show!"

Jirobu smiled. "Well, you did. That was an awesome performance."

Ritsu, having stayed quiet for a while, swallowed her cake and addressed the only male in the room.

"Hey, whatcha think about the drums? Any good?"

"Yeah, it was awesome too!" he replied excitedly. "It was like, the best show I've ever been to!"

"Bullshit."

All eyes turned on Sawako, who was still sipping from her cup.

"Don't you girls see? Buster here could care less about how you sound," she said thoughtfully. "He's not using his ears at all, are you Jiro-kun?"

"Wha— ?"

Sawako got up from her seat and continued. "I mean, think about it. He's a boy and you're...well, you're four nubile young women performing in a band. How much do you think how you sound really matters to him?"

There was a tense silence that filled the atmosphere in the previously cheery Music Room. Each band member was looking deep in thought about what the teacher had just said, particularly Mio who had brought a hand on her chin.

"Sawa-chan's right." Mio finally said, after a long silence. "Ritsu, your drumming was good, a lot better than usual actually."

Ritsu didn't smile. "But?"

"You missed a few beats and there were a couple of bum hits on the last verse."

The drummer nodded slightly. "Yeah, I know. I was kinda hoping you missed that."

"Yui...you said you practiced."

The guitarist looked up from her teacup to meet Mio's gaze. "I did!"

"At full tempo?"

"Uh...ahehehe...." she laughed sheepishly, poking her fingers together.

"What about me?" asked Tsumugi, looking a little down. "I didn't really have time to practice all that much..."

Mio smiled reassuringly at her blonde friend "No, you were fine, Mugi-chan, but you need a little bit more energy when we perform. You need to look at the audience more."

Clearing her throat loudly, Mio crossed her arms while looking down at her empty teacup. "As for me, I missed last chord in 'Fuwa Fuwa' and my harmony singing with Yui _sucked_."

Jirobu swallowed nervously. "Well...I guess it _could_ have been better but...hey, every band has it's off days right?"

Mio responded with a flat look. "Is that what you want to be thinking after a concert? That it _could_ have been better?"

More uncomfortable silence as the members of the band, their teacher and their impromptu guest thought of what to say next.

"Well then, that's _that!_" spoke up Ritsu, slamming her palms on the makeshift desk-table. "We _could_ have been better, you say? We'll _be_ better. Damn it, we're _After School Tea Time_ and we're going to rock the Budokan someday!"

Yui stood up, pumping a fist in the air "Yeah! I have to go practice now!" And with this, she quickly made her way to the guitar bags on the sofa and unzipped the black luggage.

Jirobu's eyes practically glazed over as he laid eyes on the beautiful instrument. While he had seen Yui perform with it earlier, he hadn't managed to get a good look at the headstock (for his eyes were somewhere else, of course).

But now, he could the name clear as day; _Gibson._

"Holy....that's a genuine _Les Paul_!"

Yui nodded in affirmation as she began to strum a few power chords on the electric guitar. "Everybody here helped me to buy it!"

"Do...you think I could try it?" said Jirobu, voice barely above a whisper. He had never even seen a real Les Paul; oh sure, he saw a lot of copies from various companies but he hadn't even seen one so up close!

The usually bubbly guitarist suddenly looked a tad apprehensive. "Y-you want to play with _Gitah?"_

The boy nodded. "Gitah, eh? Is that your instrument's name?"

"Whoa, he didn't question it at all!" said Ritsu in a hushed whisper, while Mugi nodded in affirmation.

"It's not really unusual for guitarists name their guitars," stated Mio, before turning on the still salivating Jirobu. "Do you play Ban-san?"

_Ban-san_.

If it was possible for Jirobu to shatter into a million tiny little pieces right there and then, he would have. Seriously, _Ban-san?_ He would have to work his way up to first name basis with her somehow, but considering what had already happened, he was _not_ off to a great start.

Seemingly noticing the young man's crushed spirit, Yui removed the guitar from her person and held it out ever so carefully to Jirobu.

"Here, Jiro-kun, play something for us!"

Lighting up quickly, Jirobu took the guitar with steady hands and tested its weight as the straps settled on his shoulders. It was perfectly balanced, the neck was as smooth as butter and the craftsmanship was a wonder to behold.

"Go on, play something!" egged on Ritsu excitedly.

"_What do I play? I bet this thing's got some excellent crunch to it!"_ thought the lad excitedly, taking out a guitar pick from his wallet. He was already poised to play his first power chord when he stopped as if frozen.

"_No, I can't play that! These girls play light, fun, poppy music! What would they think if I play that?! What would Mio-chan think?! Ah, goddamn it!"_

"Is he alright?" asked Mugi, looking quite concerned for the frozen fellow.

"_Damn it, I don't any pop songs! Maybe they won't mind Iron Maiden? Or maybe Trivium! Yeah, that's pretty melodic!"_

A rapid-fire galloping rhythm filled the walls of the Music Room as Jirobu picked out a thunderous riff on the guitar. The aggressive riff bounced off the walls, filling the empty space with a wall of sound.

The members of the Light Music club stared dumbfounded. What had they just heard?

Jirobu began to sweat nervously as the silence wore on, the only sound coming from the amplifier. "Er....that...that was..."

"Hmm, _Entrance Of The Conflagration_ by Trivium."

Jirobu turned his head so fast, he sure he heard something pop. The teacher...she knew what song he was playing?

"I gotta say, I liked their _Ascendancy _album a lot better than _The Crusade,_" she continued sauntering over at Jirobu with a gleam in her eye. "Play something again."

Nodding, the boy began to pick out another riff, this one an up-tempo piece despite retaining the aggressiveness.

"'_Crazy Doctor'_ by Loudness. Not bad," said Sawako with a smirk. "Another one."

Jirobu nodded feeling decidedly more upbeat. "I think you guys might know this one."

He began playing a power chord riff, simple but very driving. It was surprisingly funky yet still somehow still being quite aggressive.

"Oh, I got it!" chirped Ritsu, excitedly. "_Like A Foojin_ by BECK!"

"Correct," Sawako replied, with a thumbs up gesture. "Last one."

Nodding again, Jirobu began playing an incredibly dark and heavy riff. It was almost atonal in its quality, punctuated only by palm-mutes mixed with open chords.

"_Satsugai_ by Detroit Metal City," said Sawako, her eyes beginning to glow eerily. Jirobu swallowed mightily and quickly gave the guitar back to Yui.

"How....how'd you know those songs?!" he yelled pointing a finger at Sawako, who simply smiled mysteriously.

"Another story for another time," she said, grinning pleasantly. "Now, since it seems I've got everyone's attention....Jirobu-kun, what did you _really _think of the band's songs?"

The lad swallowed mightily, looking at the expectant faces on the girls. "Damn it...I'm sorry but...I thought it could've used...some....I don't know..."

"..._edge_?" came the answer from Mio, looking very much like she'd had an epiphany. "You're a pretty darned good guitar player."

The boy blushed mightily. "Thanks Mio-ch...er, Mio-san."

Looking over at her bandmates, the raven-haired bassist had a determined look in her eye. "We're going to get _better_ even if it kills us. We're going to rock the Budokan, right?"

"RIGHT!" came the chorus of replies.

Mio turned to Jirobu. "Jiro-san, do you think you could teach Yui how to play guitar better?"

The boy felt his heart grow wings and fly into the heavens. He had worked his way up to first-name basis in fifteen minutes flat!

"Um, I guess? I really mostly play rhythm. Kai's the real guitar whiz. He should be able to teach Yui-chan."

"Great," said Ritsu, cracking her knuckles. "Guys, winter break's almost coming. I think it's high time we started stepping up our game."

"Osu!" supplied Tsumugi, her brows furrowed in determination. "You're a blessing in disguise Jirobu-kun!"

"Heh, thanks," said Jirobu, feeling quite good about himself. All he had to do now was get Kai and...

....oh, _shit. _He had neglected to mention that the reason why Kai was so good at guitar was because he spent most of his free time practicing in his room. And the reason why he spent so much time practicing in his room was because of his morbid fear of people, _girls_ in particular.

Crap, what had he gotten himself into?

**A/N: Remember when I said a while ago that I would reference just one fictional band? I actually referenced TWO fictional bands here. Cookie to anyone who can point them out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Next chapter! Long one guys, please take your time to read it.

* * *

**

The front door of Kageyama Kaito's apartment was one of the most unique things in the entire complex, at least as far as Mio was concerned. Most otaku and _hikkikomori_ preferred to keep their posters on the inside of their sanctums, but the image of the red haired maiden dressed in the skin-tight bodysuit was brazenly put out on the door for all passersby to see.

"Ano...Jiro-san?" said Mio shakily. "Is this where your friend Kai-san lives?" Mio had heard about those students who would spend the entirety of their adolescent and consequently, their adult lives as well, collecting anime paraphernalia. They seriously creeped her out.

"Er, yeah," said Jiro, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "You girls should probably stand back for a sec."

The members of the Light Music Club nodded at each other, backing up from the door as much as the cramped hallway would allow. The small apartment complex was a modest structure, caramel brown paint covering the walls and several indoor plants along the corridors.

Straightening his shoulders, Jiro raised a fist and rapped his knuckles several times against the door.

"Kai, open up, it's me," he said, loudly enough for his voice to be heard by whomever resided in the apartment.

The slab of wood opened to reveal a dark-haired boy, his bangs covering his eyes, smiling lazily at his friend. He was dressed in a gray t-shirt and his school pants, wearing a pair of slippers. Sounds of guitars duelling with one another were heard from the back, playing from the stereo.

The shorter boy opened the door wider and stepped slightly out of the door frame. "Hey Jiro, thought you'd never get done with that – " He broke off suddenly, and went very pale. His eyes, though still hidden, were undoubtedly scanning the four newcomers from behind his friend.

"Ack!"

SLAM!

Mio looked stared once again at the poster covered door, mouth agape. Turning sideways, she saw Ritsu looking bewildered, Yui looking confused and Mugi doing a perfect imitation of a goldfish.

"Kai! Open up!" Jiro yelled, knocking harder on the door. "I have a situation here and I could really use your help!"

"No! You are my _enemy_!" came the muffled cry from the other side of the door. "W-w-what are t-t-they doing here Jiro?"

"They're our classmates, dumbass!" replied Jiro angrily, a vein throbbing on his forehead. "One of them is your _seatmate_, for god's sake!"

Mio sweat-dropped, remembering the odd boy who had chosen to sit beside her. He didn't talk much during their first class together and mostly avoided looking at anyone, though he answered all questions directed at him dutifully. He seemed nice enough, anyway; which made it all the more _confusing_ why he was friends with the tall, loud, scary boy who immediately tried to hit on her.

"Kai! Open the hell up!" Jiro continued, causing a few other passing occupants to look at the scene. He took a break from knocking and smiled pleasantly. "Nothing to see here! Move along!"

Yui, brows furrowed together in thought, broke away from the other girls huddled by the wall and stood side by side with Jiro in front of Kaito's door.

"Hello in there!" she yelled cheerfully, rapping on the door while Jiro watched. "My name is Hirasawa Yui and I'm your classmate from school!"

Yui continued to knock on the door, using rhythmic patterns and turned to smile at Jiro. "My sister always does this when she's waking me up for school."

From inside the apartment, they began to hear muffled guitars playing and what sounded to be anguished yells and screams, indecipherable in their meaning.

"W-w-w-what's going on in there?!" cried Mio, hugging herself as the blood-curdling screams and shrieks continued from within the room.

Jiro sighed, his eyes narrowing. "Damn, he's broken out the _Blood Stain Child_."

Yui tilted her head. "Ah, is that bad?"

"Yeah. But I have an idea."

Clearing his throat, Jiro leaned as close as he could get to the door, nearly kissing the image of the animated girl on the lips. Several passersby began walking faster to their own apartments, appalled at the scene.

"Hey Kai, X-Japan is lame and outdated!" he yelled at the door.

No answer came, the only sound present being the continued screaming and occasional singing, overdriven guitars and drums playing in the background. Smiling to herself, Ritsu stepped forward and took a position beside Jiro, who had his ear pressed against the door.

"May I?" she asked the _sanpaku_-eyed boy with a grin. Jiro nodded and stood back.

"Yo, I heard that....er...BECK....um....don't write their own songs! They just have writers who tell them what to sing! Like...like those idols on TV or something!"

A flash of blonde appeared by Ritsu's peripheral vision as she realized that Mugi had also joined in the fray.

The keyboardist cupped her hands around her mouth and spoke in a clear voice. "Yngwie Malmsteen does nothing but copy from Johann Sebastian Bach!"

Jiro turned sideways at Mugi who was pressing her ear against the door. "You know Yngwie Malmsteen?"

The blonde nodded pleasantly, still listening at the door. "I heard you talking about him earlier in school today. What sort of music does he play, if I may ask?"

The spiky haired boy's mind spun at the incredible stroke of luck this girl seemed to have – the comparison between Malmsteen and Bach was sure to get his friend's goat!

Unfortunately, each one of their attempts to lure Kai out was drowned out by the continued music playing from the stereo.

"Damn it, it's no use," sighed Jiro wearily. "Maybe I can just ask him when I see him tomorrow."

The three girls who had joined him in his futile attempt looked down at their feet, feeling utterly defeated. Ritsu's hairband failed to keep several wayward strands from being set loose upon her forehead, adding to her already haggard appearance. Yui looked like a deflated marshmallow, having returned to sit beside Mio against the wall of the hallway. Mugi was still listening by the door but the look on her face wasn't looking very optimistic about the situation.

"It's okay, Jiro-san!" said Yui from her seat by the ground. "I can practice by myself. Or maybe I can ask Azu-nyan!"

Ritsu sighed wearily and plopped down beside Yui. "Yeah, well, Azusa lives in a different time zone now. And even if you were both awake at the same time, how's she going to teach you, huh? Over the phone or something?"

Jiro leaned over at Mugi, who was still valiantly listening for signs of life. "Hey, who's Azusa?"

The blonde girl's eyebrows drooped a tiny bit, indicating a sort of melancholy. "Oh, she's our friend. She was a former member of the Light Music Club."

The boy's curiosity was piqued. "Former member?"

"Well, her parents are jazz musicians you see. She spent a year with us at Sakuragaoka and played with our band as well. Her folks got a very good job offering a year later and she, of course, had to go with them. She's finishing up high school in America right now."

"Oh, I'm...I'm sorry," said Jiro, looking pensive. "That can be hard when band members have to split up."

Mugi simply nodded and continued to press her ear against the door. "I don't hear anything."

Jiro grinned."_Yosh_, now's our chance! Er....Jimmy Page sucks! Jimi Hendrix sucks! John Petrucci sucks! Jeff Beck sucks! Jason Becker....he...he fucking sucks cocks in _hell_!"

Ritsu grew a sweatdrop. "Oi, watch your mouth, we have impressionable children here..."

"Ne, Mio-chan, what does Jiro-san mean when he says Jason Becker sucks –"

Quick as lightning, the spiky-haired boy shakily gripped both Yui's shoulders as she was asking the question to a stupefied Mio, tears comically streaming down his face. "Please, Yui-sama, don't finish that question....my immortal soul depends on it...."

"Eh?"

"Jiro-san no baka", scolded Mio quietly, patting Yui's head. "Let me give it a try. What was the name of that...t-that...horrible thing he was listening to earlier?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, Blood Stain Child."

"Okay, got it," said Mio, rising up from her seat on the floor. She took a spot near the door, face to face once again with the smile of the animated girl.

"H-hey, what was that n-noise you were l-listening to earlier? T-that was _awful_! It was horrible...all that screaming...it sounded like..._like_...someone _d-d-d-dying_! Is that what p-passes for music these days?! What is this world coming to?! "

The three girls and lone boy looked on at Mio who had crumpled into a crouch in front of the door during her speech, rocking slightly back in forth in a fetal position.

Ritsu grinned, a hand scratching the back of her neck sheepishly. "Heh, it looks like she's scared herself."

Mugi, ever helpful, went over to the long-haired bassist and gently helped her rise up again, patting the taller girl's back gently. "It's okay Mio-chan, we're going home now...."

_Creeeeaaaaaaak._

The four girls and solitary boy looked at the now opened doorway, the dark-haired occupant standing stock still. "How...can you talk...about Jason Becker...like...THAT?!"

With a yell, Kai punctuated the statement with a flying kick straight at Jiro's midsection, sending both males crumbling in a heap against the floor.

Kai had grabbed the taller boy's collar and was shaking him furiously. "He's paralyzed for heaven's sake! Don't...you...have...any...SHAME?!"

Jiro, who was still being throttled relentlessly, responded by grabbing hold of the dark-haired boy's cheeks and stretching the skin like taffy. "Idiot! I didn't have a choice! You weren't responding to anything! And why am I the only one you're hurting?!"

"Eto...Kai-san?" began Yui tentatively. The harmless greeting drew another terrified squeak from Kai and nearly sent him bolting back to the safety of his apartment if it weren't for Jiro putting him in a full-nelson lock.

"Man, calm the hell down!" Jiro yelled, which caused the shorter boy to stop flailing. "Look, we're going to discuss things in there reasonably and calmly, alright? Just hear us out."

The boy in the headlock nodded silently before being released. "Fine, you...you can _all_ come in."

* * *

Despite the poster at the front of the door, Kaito's apartment really didn't look anything like one would imagine; there weren't rows of anime-inspired figurines, shelves of manga or even posters similar to the one outside. The walls were barren except for a few paintings and a simple futon lay out in the middle of the room. A small kitchen and what was likely the door to the bathroom was present; stereo speakers attached to an mp3 player were placed by the futon. Beside this lay a laptop with a webcam attached, as well as a guitar amplifier and two guitar cases propped up against it. A tall shelf full of what looked like DVDs stood next to a small television and DVD player.

Jiro, as well as the Light Music Club, sat down on the tatami mat while Kai sat on his futon, a blanket wrapper around his shoulders. They spent a few minutes on formal introductions before lapsing once more into silence.

"Ano..." began Ritsu tentatively, causing Kai to flinch. "You live here by yourself?"

The dark-haired boy gulped nervously. "Dad...working...America..."

"Oh, what does your Dad do?" asked Mugi, joining in the conversation.

"Doctor," came the answer again. "What do you want?"

Jiro frowned at his friend. "Oi, don't be so rude. They just need some help."

Yui slapped both palms together and bowed in front of Kai, causing the boy to wrap the blanket tighter around himself.

"Please, Kai-san! Help me become a better guitar player!"

Kai stared at the bowing girl for a few moments before turning his gaze on the other music club members. "You're that band from this morning?"

"You recognized us just _now_?" asked Ritsu, slight irritation in her voice. "Are we really _that_ forgettable?"

"No, it's not that," replied Kai, shrinking slightly when the band members turned their attention to him. "Don't get me wrong; based on image alone...you would probably already do pretty well."

"Yeah, but?" responded Ritsu, leaning closer.

Kai looked at the girl whose face was inches away from his and promptly began bleeding from the nose. The drummer drew back slightly, even as the dark-haired boy began stuffing his nostrils with tissue.

"Your songs..." he continued through the tissue plugs. "They're not bad per se...they just need a bit more..."

"Edge," replied Mio, repeating what was said that afternoon. "We...already had a discussion about that this morning. How do we do that anyway?"

The blanket wrapped lad put a hand on his chin. "Who're the main songwriters?"

"Um, I guess me and Mugi," said Mio. "Sometimes Yui and Ritsu come up with songs as well."

"How do you write?"

Mio looked deep in thought for a moment. How _did_ her writing process go? Most of the time, whenever inspiration would hit her, she would just jot everything down in a piece of paper. After that, it was getting the words to rhyme and flow. The music usually came last. As for Yui, the music almost always came first, and _then_ the lyrics would be a team effort by the group.

"I suppose we write as the moment hits us," responded the bassist finally. "Whatever we see, then whatever we feel."

"There's no reason to change that, then," said the boy in the blanket, a small grin on his features. "Like I said, your songs aren't bad. And now, I know that they're _honest_, at the very least."

"So, how do we improve then?" asked Ritsu, a tad impatiently. They were wasting a perfectly good Friday afternoon in her opinion.

"Well, sometimes, it's really just a matter of experience," supplied Jiro, propping himself up with his hands as he sat Indian style on the mat. "The longer you play with each other, the more you get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses. After that, your songs will start displaying the strengths more and eliminating the weaknesses."

"Correct," said Kai, grinning appraisingly at Jiro, who flashed a victory sign. "Don't worry – the 'edge' will come when it does. Just keep writing like you normally do."

"Yosh, thank you for the advice, Jiro-sensei and Kai-sensei!" exclaimed Yui excitedly. "We're going to reach the Budokan in no time!"

Kai's mouth drew into a thin line as he crossed his arms. "Not with your mediocre guitar playing, you won't."

"Eh?!" Yui said, cheeks puffing out in indignation. "I'll practice a lot more then!"

"You've got good attitude at least," said Kai, finally disentangling himself from his blanket fortress and crawling over to the rack of DVDs. The girls looked a tad uncomfortably as he shuffled through a few titles before making his way back to his original spot.

The dark-haired boy held up a DVD case in front of Yui, that of a long-haired man with a multi-colored guitar hanging in front of him. "John Petrucci's _Rock Discipline_. Use it every day for two hours or more."

Yui's eyes glowed with intrigue. "Waaaah...his guitar is so pretty! This will help me get better right?"

Kai scratched the back of his head self-consciously. "Well, in a way. It's still up to you to actually practice, y'know. Read up on some music theory on the internet too."

"Yui's got perfect pitch, though," said Ritsu. "Does she really still have to learn the scales and stuff?"

"Well, perfect pitch is useless if you don't know how to use it correctly," said Jiro with a serious look. He had always envied those who were naturally talented with their instruments but it just motivated him to get better as well. The only thing was, what was the point? These girls were obviously at the start of their career as a band, while he was...

"Shit, Kai, what time is it?" he said suddenly, looking a bit worried.

"Relax, it's only five o'clock. Hang on, I'll boot up the laptop now."

It took but a few minutes for Kai to fully boot up the laptop and turn on the webcam. Ritsu leaned beside the dark-haired boy to look closer at the screen, causing him to fidget uncomfortably.

"Who're you talking to?" she asked, curiosity in her eyes.

Swallowing nervously, the short boy tried to stammer out an answer. "T-t-t-...."

"He's talking to our friend," supplied Jiro helpfully, causing Kai to sigh in gratitude. "He's also studying abroad and we keep in contact with him like this every week."

"Cool. Hiya over there! What's your name?" said Ritsu enthusiastically into the lens of the webcam while Mugi, Mio and Yui waved sheepishly from behind.

A few moments passed before the screen of the laptop displayed what looked to be the inside of a room, the most prominent item being a bed and what seemed to be a keyboard propped up against an adjacent wall.

"John? Are you there?" spoke Kai into the mic of the webcam.

"Yeah, I'm here!" answered a voice off camera. Seconds later, a blonde haired young man appeared on Kai's computer screen. He had the fine, angular features of an American, complete with blue eyes and pale skin. He wore a friendly smile and a red key-tar was strapped around his shoulders. He played a few rapid notes before smiling again into the camera.

"Whoa, I see some females there Kai!" he yelled excitedly. "Three...no, _four_ of them! You've been taking my advice seriously I'm guessing?"

"Man, shut up!" yelled Kai, ignoring the giggles from Ritsu and Mugi. "I'm going to send you the guitar tracks now so you can work on layering the bass on them."

"Straight to business eh?" laughed the boy with the key-tar. "Seriously, what's with the girls in there? Last time I saw you, you ran away from anything with ovaries."

"They're the light music club from our school here," answered Jiro. He pointed out each band member and their respective instruments like a teacher calling roll-call, with each of the girls dutifully introducing themselves as well.

"Oooh, an all-girl band? You bastards are so lucky!" yelled the blonde haired kid. "Hey ladies! The name's John Takeda."

"Takeda? You're half-Japanese?" asked Mio, moving closer to the laptop.

"Sure am," replied John with a grin. "I'm the lead singer and bassist for our band."

Mugi smiled in slight surprise. "Band? You mean with Jiro-san and Kai-san?"

A megawatt grin formed on John's face before playing a rapid series of notes on his key-tar. He ended with a dramatic pose. "Yep, we're called Quicksilver."

"Hmm, John does like to take control doesn't he?" whispered Kai conspirationally to Jiro who could only nod. It was true; their vocalist and bassist had quite the magnetically charming personality that was extremely popular with their classmates back then. Even through a computer screen, he managed to captivate people, even those he had just met, almost effortlessly Add this to the fact that he could play most any instrument and it was no surprise that John Takeda was their frontman.

"Yeah, we played a few live shows while I was studying in Japan" continued John, sounding nostalgic. "It was great fun, eh guys?"

Kai and Jiro murmured their agreements. The mood in the room seemed to darken inexplicably as soon as the blonde boy said this, causing Mio to gulp nervously.

It was Mugi who spoke again, trying to relieve the tension. "Ano...so, you still perform together then?"

"When we can," replied Jiro, smiling hesitantly. "We usually have jam sessions via webcam like this, but like Ritsu said, it's kinda hard with the time difference and all."

"Yeah, we try our best," said Kai, before adding under his breath, "even without our spine, we still manage to move..."

A beat of silence ensued before Jiro looked seriously at John through the webcam again.

"How's Tetsuo?" he asked quietly. Kai seemed to shrink, silently crawling back to his futon and wrapping his blanket around himself again.

"Doing alright I guess. I played him the new songs – I think he approves."

Mio looked over at Kai who was sitting silently on his mattress, as still as a statue. "Who's Tetsuo?"

Silence ensued for a while as the dark-haired boy said nothing before swallowing heavily and bowing his head.

"Kitamura Tetsuo – he was our drummer."

"Oh, he's also studying abroad then?" asked Ritsu.

There was a long uncomfortable silence that passed as neither Jiro nor Kai talked. Even John was silent on his end, not even tinkering with the keys of his key-tar.

John finally exhaled heavily. "Tetsuo got into a car accident a year ago. He's in a coma."

A sudden wave of cold hit the members of the Light Music Club, settling in their stomachs like blocks of ice. Mugi covered her mouth in shock while Yui fell silent. Ritsu's eyes were cast downwards and Mio began to hug herself once again.

"His parents flew him over here in America to get treatment. So far, he's stable at least," John continued all traces of joviality gone from his voice. "Me, Jiro and Kai make our music and I play back what we've made for him. He opens his eyes sometimes."

"That's horrible..." whispered Mugi, her tiny fists clenching.

More heavy silence ensued for a few moments, before it was broken by a sound from the laptop, signifying completion of a file transfer.

"Got the guitar tracks," said John excitedly, regaining his composure. "I'll work on these first thing tomorrow morning and I'll send it back to you for some touch-ups, alright?"

"No problem," said Kai with a thumbs up. "Me an' Jiro here'll talk to you next week, same time?"

"You bet. Later minions! Nice meeting you ladies!" And with another charming smile, John's webcam was turned off.

"Hey, when you said 'spine' a while ago, were you referring to your drummer?" asked Mio, as Kai got up to store his laptop in a case.

"Yeah. Listen, you girls come to school early tomorrow alright? I'll bring you all some homework."

"Ehh?! Homework? You've gotta be kidding!" whined Ritsu.

"It's the only way you'll ever reach Budokan level," replied Kai seriously, before smiling at Jiro. "At least, while we're all still young."

* * *

**A/N: **

_**Sanpaku**_**, or **_**sanpaku-gan**_**is a ****Japanese**** term that means "three whites" and is generally referred to in English as "Sanpaku eyes". The term refers to the ****iris**** being rather small that it can only cover about two-thirds or less of the vertical of the eye; imagining an eye as divided into four portions, the iris only 'colours' one portion, thus leaving the other three in white, hence "three whites". Gangsters in anime are typically drawn this way.**

**I mentioned many different guitar players here; in particular, **_**Jason Becker**_**, who is a neoclassical rock guitarist who performed with Marty Friedman (former Megadeth guitarist) in the guitar duo Cacophony. He was diagnosed with ALS and is consequently confined to a wheelchair. He is in stable condition and continues to compose music via a special software he operates with his eyelids.**

_**Blood Stain Child**_** is a Japanese melodic death metal from Osaka. ****A notable feature of Blood Stain Child is their tendency to incorporate both ****dance**** and ****trance**** related themes and elements into their music. The band's sound includes ****death vocals**** complemented at times by ****clean vocals****.**

**BTW, cookie to anyone who can guess who the girl in the poster is :)  
**


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